Rosalía’s ballet and opera

Whether intentional or not, so much of pop culture seems to be a rebuke of Timothée Chalamet’s controversial comments about ballet and opera right now – from ballets and opera houses around the world leveraging the moment to promote their artforms to Timmy becoming the butt of the joke during comedy sets, to other celebrities calling out or weighing in on the conversation.

Rosalía’s album Lux, released back in November, is my favourite album of 2025. I’ve listened to it straight through at least every other day since it dropped. It was not up for any Grammys because it came out after the eligibility window but expect Lux to be a major player at the Grammys in 2027 because it is a modern masterpiece, blending traditional opera and classical and flamenco music with club beats and house vibes in 13 different languages. Lux is a feminist experience, a religious experience, a transformative experience, the scale of Rosalía’s ambition here is breathtaking. She is classically trained, her vocals are impeccable, and she is not singing for the algorithm, she is singing, purely, for expression, for human connection through sound which, frankly, is divine unto itself.

And if you know this album, you know of course that it was always going to lend itself to classical theatre, ballet and opera. Rosalía kicked off the Lux Tour in France this week and that was exactly the energy of the set and her performance, in four acts, the first of which is basically the first five tracks on the album:

“Sexo, Violencia y Llantas”, “Reliquia”, Porcelana”, “Divinize”, and “Mio Cristo Piange Diamanti”.

“Reliquia” is actually my favourite song from Lux, I either cry or I want to cry every time I hear that violin off the top. Let me just… please… if you haven’t heard it, if you haven’t given this album a listen, please try – it is f-cking STUNNING. Like, this song, I swear I think it revealed to me a part of myself I didn’t know was there. Crank to full volume and let her voice rearrange your molecules.

And then there’s “Mio Cristo Piange Diamanti” – Jacek actually played it a couple months ago for his 80+ year old father who only f-cks with classic jazz and opera and the man was impressed. This should be Timmy Chalamet’s soundtrack for the next few months, the most gentle kind of trolling.

Now watch her perform it live and try to get through it without weeping. I actually don’t know how I’m going to make it through her show without expiring – whether or not I’m taken to hell or purgatory is another question. 

@paolatravell Mio Cristo Piange Diamanti Rosalia gave us her whole heart tonight in Lyon 🥺💔 #Rosalia #luxtour #lyon @La Rosalia @HOLA ROSALÍA ♬ Originalton - Paolatravell

Rosalía plays another show in Paris tomorrow night before she moves around Europe, then North America, then South America, on tour. She was seen enjoying some down time today with model Loli Bahia. They’ve been seemingly inseparable the last couple of months, amid ongoing speculation that they are dating. I believe it, and I want to believe, even though the combination of these two is just so much beauty and sexiness, my brain can’t handle it.